The infant-B students started the week off with footprint art and baking cookies for charity!
To support those affected by Hurricane Harvey, the students made individual art pieces and baked oatmeal cookies. We invited parents to come in and donate in exchange for these beautiful and tasty goodies.
All donations will be sent to the HISD Foundation.
Thank you, parents, for your support and generosity!
In connection with our school-wide intent: Identity and Self
We thought it would be engaging and exciting if the children painted on top of mirrors since they have been fascinated with exploring their refections. What will happen when they cover up their reflection with paint?
The students crawled on top of the large mirrors to squish the bright puddles of paint- discovering their reflections in the pockets between the paint.
It was lovely to see the students observing their own movements and seeing their friend’s reflection in action. We will definitely repeat this activity in the future and add other materials to the mix to see what is similar and different about the experiences.
How wonderful! More students are showing interest in the mirrors, exploring the doll’s face (eyes and mouth) and investigating the classroom pictures!
How else can we incorporate the student's interest in observing their bodies and movements with mirrors? Perhaps we can try some shadow play?
Today the infant-b students explored mirror paper on their classroom floor and then enjoyed water play with mirrors!
Mirror Paper:
The students enjoyed the mirror paper- discovering their beautiful faces in the shiny squares, as they maneuvered their bodies around the room. The best part is when they saw that they could detach the mirrors from the floor, and hold them in their little hands.
Water Play with Mirrors:
Splash, Splash, splash!
The students had a blast exploring the warm water in the sensory bin- the mirrors under the water was a bonus!
As the children slammed their hands into the water, they were able to see their reflections! Some of the children pressed their hands into the water to rest their hand onto the shiny mirrors and others chose to climb into the sensory bin- both hands on the mirror, observing their face through the water, into the mirror.
Amazing job, guys!
Have a wonderful long weekend, and we'll see you on Monday.
Busy Explorers!
GYM TIME:
This week the Infant-B students enjoyed their gym time- exercising their bodies and working on coordination, as they climbed up and down on mats and crawled through tunnels. Bravo, guys!
OUT FOR A WALK:
For our first outing, the infant-B class took a short walk around the neighborhood!
They absolutely loved it!
The infants enjoyed riding inside the buggies next to their friends- enjoying the fresh air and looking all around.
As we walked, the students had huge smiles on their faces as their teachers sang “If Your Happy and You Know It”, “We're Going to Kentucky” and more favorites.
PAINTING:
We thought it would be interesting if we let the students freely explore paint, using their whole body! How is their approach different when they can use their legs and feet, too? Compounded with the freedom to move their bodies, we also introduced some classical music. As we listened to a selection of fast tempo classical compositions playing from the music box, we noticed that some children slowly approached the paint provocation and others chose to leap directly onto the wet puddles of bright paint.
It was lovely to watch the students having so much fun, manipulating the paint with their hands, legs and feet- splashing and smearing the paint across the white paper canvas. Beautiful job, Guys! We'll continue to explore the interaction between classical music and painting throughout the school year.
MODEL MAGIC:
Model magic and clay are excellent ways to improve dexterity and strengthen large and fine motor skills with children!
Encouraging the students to poke, bend, tear and squeeze the soft medium, the children were fascinated with how their actions affected the soft, flexible material.
Each time they acted upon the clay, the clay adjusted and responded. These changes mean very little to us as adults, but for an infant, these changes in the clay are magical. It is cause and effect in motion.
The students were naturally fascinated, motivated, and empowered to keep experimenting.
Wonderful job!
Curriculum:
Idenity and Self (Fousing on the Child)
Continuing our research on identity and self, it was a pleasant surprise to see the children becoming fascinated with their reflections in the mirrors and their curiosity of the dolls faces in the classroom- using their pointers to explore the face of the doll. The focus seemed to be on the baby doll's eyes and especially its mouth.
"That is the baby's mouth, Kika",
"Where is Kika's mouth?"
We will continue to encourage the students to notice the different parts of their body ( mouth, nose, eyes etc.) with music, books and other stimulating activities.
What new developments will happen next?!
Can't wait to find out!!
The infant-B students are transiting into their new classroom, beautifully- engaging with various learning materials and exploring with their new friends.
The students created their first marks in their portrait books, painted, used crayons on canvas and had a blast investigating the light table - covered in puddles of bright, soft paint.
Beautiful job, Sloane!
Sloane and her classmates are strengthens their fine motor skills, as they draw with crayons- encouraging the movement of their fingers, hands and wrists.
Strong fine motor skills help children manipulate small objects and eventually type, cut and do other complex activities that require working with the small muscles of the hands.
Drawing also promotes hand-eye coordination.
Leo and Rohan loved the texture of the warm, puddles of bright paint on the light table!
The students used their whole bodies to explore this provocation.
The children pressed their hands, feet and tummies into the paint, smearing the paint across the illuminated light.
Parents, welcome to our Infant-B Blog for the school year!
Each Thursday the blog will be used to connect with you about our ongoing curriculum projects. The overarching "theme" for the year is Identity and Self.
Our first focus is on the individual child:
-Understanding the choices, they make
-Researching how they gain understanding of the world around them.
&
-How they communicate with us.
One of the questions we as educators, will be asking ourselves is:
How can we help the child form a positive sense of identity?
The infant-B classroom is full of investiagtors, curious minds and silly personalities.
We are so excited for this new school year and happy to see how excited the infant-B students were, on their first days in school- excited to see their old friends and to make new ones.
To our amazing infant-B students,
We know you all will have a year full of discoveries and adventures. We are so excited to be here with you on this journey!
